Shanghai's "artificial sun" achieves new tech breakthrough

SHANGHAI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai-based fusion startup Energy Singularity announced that its HH70 high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tokamak has set a global milestone for a commercially built nuclear fusion device -- sustaining a steady-state, long-pulse plasma current for 1,337 seconds.

Nuclear fusion, which simulates the sun's thermonuclear reaction and is commonly known as "artificial sun," is regarded as the ultimate solution to humanity's energy and carbon emission challenges.

Founded in 2021 as China's first private fusion energy company, Energy Singularity completed and commissioned the world's first HTS tokamak, the HH70, in June 2024. The device has conducted 5,755 experiments, with the latest round achieving the thousand-second-level pulse.

According to the company, this milestone was made possible by continuous optimization of its AI-based plasma control system.

"This breakthrough is not merely about time, but more importantly, it demonstrates that the deep integration of HTS and AI control technologies has reached engineering feasibility, paving the way for the low-cost, high-efficiency construction of future fusion power plants," said Dong Ge, co-founder of Energy Singularity.

"Our goal is to reduce the levelized cost of electricity from fusion power to that of thermal power, or even lower," Dong added.

The HH70 device boasts independent intellectual property rights, with a localization rate exceeding 96 percent. Building on this key experimental platform, the company is now accelerating development of its next-generation device, the HH170, with the goal of achieving net energy gain from fusion, the company revealed.

Currently, Shanghai is advancing multiple technological pathways, including HTS tokamaks and laser fusion, as it actively builds itself into a global innovation hub for fusion energy.  ■